Archive for June, 2011
Pluses and Minuses of Reverse Osmosis
For the past four decades or so the reverse osmosis process has been refined into a very useful method of filtering water. From the discovery of the phenomenon of osmosis by Abbe Noilett in 1748 to the opening of the first commercial reverse osmosis plant in 1965, the process has become an integral part of commercial, industrial and our domestic lives. Its impact to the present day cannot be undermined.
However, reverse osmosis is not without any defects. The whole water filtering process is never perfect especially when we ourselves produce all sorts of new pollutants or water contaminants as by products of human race’s continuing thirst for technological advancements. Today, we have new techniques of filtering water which makes it more appropriate to review the plusses and minuses of reverse osmosis.
When reverse became commercially available forty years ago, it was a great alternative from the more expensive distillation process. The world easily embraced this new way of making our water clean and safe to drink and for other usage. The filtered water from the process became important in commercial establishments such as restaurants and hotels. Various industries also adopted the procedure especially power generating plants, pharmaceutical companies and even semi conductors and electronic manufacturers. Reverse osmosis has found its way to various small industries as well like bottled/flavored drink manufacturers, the wine industry, maple syrup production, water purifying businesses and even in reef aquariums.
Aside from costs of setting up a reverse osmosis system relative to distillation processes, another advantage of using the method is that it has been proven to be very effective in removing organic chemicals or dissolved minerals found in the water. So the process easily filters nitrates, fluoride, sodium, Giardia, sulfides, Crypto sporidium as well as heavy metals like mercury, radium, uranium, lead and arsenic. Harmful chlorine and bacteria are also removed from the water that passes through the reverse osmosis membranes. And also, since it uses no electricity and only requires sufficient amount of water pressure, the whole process is very energy efficient.
How can you put a limit on learning more? The next section may contain that one little bit of wisdom that changes everything.
However, despite the many advantages reverse osmosis has received a lot of criticisms. For one, even though it does not consume that much energy as distilling machines, reverse osmosis does waste a lot of water and not to mention works pretty slow. On the average, to produce one gallon of clean and filtered water reverse osmosis wastes about two to three gallons of water. Also, it takes roughly an hour to fill a gallon with clean water.
Then there’s the health issue. Because reverse osmosis membranes filters anything that are bigger than water molecules, the beneficial natural minerals from water are being removed as well. According to studies, the water without these natural minerals can be unhealthy for the body. When reverse osmosis removes the alkaline mineral contents of water it becomes acidic. When we drink this acidic water, the natural reaction of our body is balance the acidity levels by taking the calcium and other essential minerals found in our bones and teeth.
More importantly, contaminants that have smaller molecules than water such as the various by products of herbicides, pesticides, fertilizers and industrial solvents are able to pass through. These chemicals can cause cancer and other degenerative diseases.
Reviewing the pluses and minuses of reverse osmosis is necessary so we can assess the relevance of the procedure today especially in producing drinking water. There are now new and more efficient ways of filtering water and turning to them could be a wiser move.
About the Author
By Anders Eriksson, feel free to visit his Perpetual20 training site for great bonuses: Perpetual20
Copywriting Assignments
In today’s world, it seems that almost any topic is open for debate. While I was gathering facts for this article, I was quite surprised to find some of the issues I thought were settled are actually still being openly discussed.
There are numerous methods for you to acquire copywriting assignments. Within this article day, will focus on different websites where you can acquire copywriting assignments as well as how to acquire clients who will bring you copywriting assignments.
There are many different online freelance marketplaces where you can acquire copywriting science. There are three particular websites which stand head and shoulders above most others. The first of these is www.guru.com. This is the biggest online freelance marketplace. He second of these three websites is www.elance.com. A third of these three websites is www.findafreelancer.com. Each of these websites has a search agent which can e-mail jobs based upon the desired search criteria which you would like. The third website is the European version of the first two. It is the smallest of the three but is still a significant source of good copywriting work. Most of the websites do usually charge a subscription fee, whether it be monthly or quarterly. This can be a great investment because you will have access to copywriting assignments that you would not normally have seen.
There are many other ways to acquire copywriting assignments other than using online freelance marketplaces. This is a place where you can use your creativity in selling yourself. Many companies in need of copywriting work will not normally look online first. They may go towards local contacts and sources that they have because they feel more comfortable using someone who they can physically meet with. You can take advantage of these needs by cultivating contacts within your region. Look into joining your Chamber of Commerce as well as other civic groups. Be sure to bring business cards with you and have a thirty second speech explaining what you do so that people remember what you do and who you are. Do not work at directly selling yourself to them at first but rather make the connection and allow them to come to you. People are more willing to do business with you when they actually know you rather then just a face on a website or an anonymous bid to a project that they post.
So far, we’ve uncovered some interesting facts about Copywriting. You may decide that the following information is even more interesting.
Another key when acquiring copywriting assignments is to make sure that you have a website. Many copywriters and professionals do not have a website and this can give you a competitive advantage. You can publish some of your past assignments on the Internet so that if people are interested, they can look at your website. You do not have to worry about e-mailing them any information and they will contact you if they’re interested. If you work on getting your site indexed, people searching the Internet for copywriting could also stumble across your website and provide in other source of leads for you.
When looking for copywriting assignments, the key is that you must sell yourself and think creatively outside of the box. If you set yourself up well, you will find that you will be inundated with work by consistently prospecting for new business using some of the techniques explained above.
There’s no doubt that the topic of Copywriting can be fascinating. If you still have unanswered questions about Copywriting, you may find what you’re looking for in the next article.
About the Author
By Anders Eriksson, feel free to visit his soon to be top ranked Perpetual20 training site: Perpetual 20
Shopping For Meditation Supplies
A quiet room is all you need in order to meditate. But if you are like some who feel that meditation supplies are needed, go ahead and do so.
The first thing you have to concern yourself with is space. For that, you have to check which room in your house you can use as a meditation room. Ideally, this should have adequate space to put a cushion, a mat or a bench. It should also be clutter free so it looks very relaxing.
The best support to get when you sit down should enable you to keep your back straight and prevent you from slumping during meditation. These come in different sizes and colors so check them out.
Another thing you can have in the meditation room is a small table. You can put in two or four and this is for the incense and your CD player. When you are shopping for incense, it is best to try out each one because there are some that are stronger than others. The same goes with the music because some prefer the sound of whistling trees while there are others who prefer the sound of running water.
You should also consider the lighting in the room so you create the right environment suitable for meditation. If your light has a dimmer then that could do the trick. If you prefer to use candles, make sure they are placed in strategic areas of the room. The candles could be scented or unscented which is entirely up to you because there are already incense sticks.
It’s really a good idea to probe a little deeper into the subject of Meditation. What you learn may give you the confidence you need to venture into new areas.
When you have a meditation room, do you ever ask yourself why you are doing this? If you are doing this for you and your family, you can also buy a few picture frames and put their photos then place this on the table.
For those that want to relax, change this with images of nature like the ocean, the rainforest, the mountains or the clouds.
The use of incense and scented candles can only do so much to freshen up the room so why not use flowers instead? You can buy a nice vase from the store then buy these from the florist or cut them from your own garden. Often times, you will find that the smell of flowers does a lot to bring a sense of calm to the room.
With the right meditation supplies and furniture around, it is easy for you to close your eyes, drift off to that special place and come back feeling refreshed. You can try other scents and other sounds later on so don’t be afraid to try other things as well especially when this is already part of your daily routine.
If you travel regularly, you can continue your meditation routine by taking your meditation supplies with you. Surely, it isn’t that hard to buy an inflatable cushion, some candles or oils then put this into a bag and maybe upload the music to your MP3 player.
Meditation takes time to master and having a special room with sufficient meditation supplies will really help a lot. You can order these online or get this from the specialty store so it won’t be that hard for you to replenish them when you are almost out.
About the Author
By Anders Eriksson, feel free to visit his Perpetual20 training site for great bonuses: Perpetual20
Copywriting Rates
The only way to keep up with the latest about Copywriting is to constantly stay on the lookout for new information. If you read everything you find about Copywriting, it won’t take long for you to become an influential authority.
Within this article on copywriting rates, we’ll look at how much you can make both employed as a copywriter as well as what type of copywriting rates you can charge if you are a freelancer.
If you are employed as a copywriter, you can make a small amount or large amount of money depending on your expertise and how you sell yourself. The average writer in 2005 earned roughly around $60,000 including bonuses, according to Advertising Age. This was quoted at the following website: http://www.collegeboard.com.
As far as copywriting rates go when you are a freelancer, this is a hard question to answer. Some people charge on a per project basis while others charged on a per hour basis. Here are some facts from a study done back in 2005 so adjust these figures slightly for the purposes of this article. If you like to learn more about copywriting rates up front, here is the link for that: http://www.excessvoice.com/copyfees.htm. If you write a sales letter that is supposed to generate leads, most freelancers charged somewhere between $1000 and $2000.
The best time to learn about Copywriting is before you’re in the thick of things. Wise readers will keep reading to earn some valuable Copywriting experience while it’s still free.
If you were to charge for writing a website home page, this often would bring in between $300 and $400 for you. Copywriting is a very good profession as about two out of every five people earned somewhere between $50,000 and $100,000 a year in gross income. Be sure that you take advantage of purchasing these survey results because it could allow you to earn a great deal more money. You could find that you are grossly undercharging your services in this could provide an immediate boost to your income without having to do any more work.
The figures that were quoted here were based upon the median of copywriters surveyed so if you have specific knowledge and experience that others do not and this can be quantified, you could charge a higher price than what the market could bear. This would allow you to have a greater gross income. Taking the time to learn more by your field and develop experience within a particular niche can give you a competitive attitude which would allow you to charge more for your services.
Hopefully this article on copywriting writing rates has given you some knowledge on what kind of rates you could charge. If you want more information on particular activities that you currently engaged in, look up the survey which is listed under the link provided above.
All of the rates that were listed in here were the median rates remember. This is the critical point that is being re-emphasized in this paragraph because it should give you an idea of what you could potentially charge. Rates within markets can always change so you must make sure that you’re keeping up with what others are charging so that you make sure you are not shortchanging your self. The rate that you charge for services is contingent upon what the market is willing to pay as well as how well you sell yourself.
Is there really any information about Copywriting that is nonessential? We all see things from different angles, so something relatively insignificant to one may be crucial to another.
About the Author
By Anders Eriksson, proud owner of this top ranked web hosting reseller site: GVO
The Types of Spiritual Meditation
Have you ever wondered what exactly is up with Meditation? This informative report can give you an insight into everything you’ve ever wanted to know about Meditation.
Spiritual meditation aims to help a person dig deep into the inner self in order to discover the wisdom and tranquility that lie within. It can be done by developing awareness, harmony and natural order into life through meditation. Different techniques can be employed in order to achieve this.
Different meditation techniques have been developed since ancient times in the effort to help people experience a higher state of consciousness. This usually makes use of the ability to clear the mind of distractions and focusing mainly on the self. Here are some of the techniques that most people use to get in touch with their spiritual consciousness through meditation.
One of the ancient techniques in meditation used is one that Buddhists practice. This technique is called mindfulness meditation and involves learning how to be aware about the things that one does and the things that is happening around at the very moment. This type of meditation technique can take time to master and involves four steps.
The first step is the abstinence from the five moral rules which is killing, stealing, lying, sexual misconduct, and the use of toxic substances. The second step is the practice of Anapana Meditation for three and a half days where a person is taught how to meditate while focusing on one’s breathing. The third step involves purifying the mind which involves self observation for six and half days. The fourth step involves speaking and living an extroverted life. This meditation technique closes with the practice of metta bhavana which involves sharing the purity developed with others.
If you find yourself confused by what you’ve read to this point, don’t despair. Everything should be crystal clear by the time you finish.
Another type of meditation technique is Transcendental Meditation, the most debated and researched one among the many meditation types. This type of meditation aims to help one attain enlightenment if practiced on the long term. This meditation technique also can help increase intelligence and creativity. This technique does not require the mastery of difficult breathing techniques or the use of some special postures. A person needs only to learn how to concentrate by sitting in a relaxed and comfortable posture and position.
Another meditation technique is the vibrational meditation which involves the repetition of a mantra, a particular word or a sound that becomes the focal point of the meditation process. The vibrations that are produced by making the word or sound is experienced passing through the body. During meditation, the individual is to concentrate on nothing else but the sound as it is uttered again and again.
The Walking Meditation is one of the many other types of meditation techniques that may help one get in touch with one’s inner self. It involves learning to focus the mind while walking. Although this meditation technique can be difficult to practice it can prove to be very beneficial. This type of meditation involves focusing on the feet while meditating and trying not to let the mind wander away from every step taken.
These different types of spiritual meditation techniques take time to master. It may be hard for some people to get used to focusing on one thing, due most of the time to the influence of the world in general and how it has clouded and cluttered the mind with thoughts of problems, worries and stress. But with regular practice and eventually making a certain type of meditation technique a regular habit, people may be able to look into their inner selves more effectively and then achieve a higher sense of consciousness that may help one attain inner peace.
Now you can be a confident expert on Meditation. OK, maybe not an expert. But you should have something to bring to the table next time you join a discussion on Meditation.
About the Author
By Anders Eriksson, proud owner of this top ranked web hosting reseller site: GVO
What is Self-Publishing?
This interesting article addresses some of the key issues regarding Self Publishing. A careful reading of this material could make a big difference in how you think about Self Publishing.
For book authors, the term ?self-publishing’ almost always prompts a sense of important decision-making. This is because to be able to get into the concept, there is a need to decide firmly whether to self publish or not. Technically, self-publishing is a practice when authors publish their own books and other content without the help, assistance, and mediation of third-party publishers.
Currently, self-publishing is accounting for just a minimal percentage of the entire publishing industry (with respect to sales). However, it is fast becoming more popular as an option for numerous book and content authors. Because the publishing industry is obviously changing its landscape, it is expected that more and more authors would prefer to self publish in the future.
Self-publishing is not an entirely new practice. In fact, it has been around, though in different forms, ever since the start of the publishing history. These days, self-publishing is logically increasing amid further advancement of the modern-age publishing technology. With the emergence of desktop publishing systems, xerography, the Internet, and print on demand, self-publishing is becoming a clear phenomenon in the changing publishing industry.
Observers note that the practice is getting more attention these days. This could be attributed in part by the emergence of different cultural phenomena, like proliferation of various media channels, emergence of the DIY movement, and of course the very popular blogging. Now, anyone could opt to self-publish.
Think about what you’ve read so far. Does it reinforce what you already know about Self Publishing? Or was there something completely new? What about the remaining paragraphs?
What makes self-publishing a very attractive option and prospect among authors? In the practice, the absence of traditional publishers serves as a key distinguishing characteristic. The author decides to fulfill the role instead. Because of that, he is able to take full control over the editorial content. He assumes key roles like arranging for printing, massive marketing, and distributing the printed outputs. It could be a tedious job but there could be overall fulfillment in terms of quality and revenues.
Without the third-party publishers, self-publishing authors are directly involved to the risks and detriments of publishing. People may not be fully aware of it, but publishing is a really tedious and challenging activity. Third-party publishers have editors that approve content of authors’ works. They decide whether a material is fit for publishing or not. Of course, editors would give a go-signal to content that has the potential to create a patronizing impression among book readers. They only approve for printing materials that they think would be commercially viable.
Without such editors, authors would be at risk. Some authors do not have the grasp to know which type of content would appeal to the commercial market. On the plus side, absence of third-party publishers’ editors could prompt authors to go on and stick to their creativity and originality. Many authors like the prospect of having a book published as they have written it, without any minor and major revisions.
Are authors bound to make more money through self-publishing? It would depend. In many cases, self-publishing authors incur losses because they take care of all the financial aspects of printing, releasing, marketing, and distributing a book. If the book does not sell well, the self-publishing author would be in trouble. However, if the book makes it big time (make it big commercially), the author is up for hefty income. It could be a big and strategic risk to get into self publishing.
About the Author
By Anders Eriksson, proud owner of this top ranked web hosting reseller site: GVO
Buddhist Meditation
Remember those Chinese martial art movies that feature monks with their heads shaved off? Well, those folks practice Buddhism which is a spiritual movement designed to make the person find the true nature of life. At the heart of this is meditation which is the means of making this possible.
But to understand Buddhist Meditation, you have to know the Buddhism itself is centered on the Four Noble Truths. First, we have to realize that there is suffering in the world which happens because of our ignorance and our desires. When we do understand ourselves, we can finally find a way to end this suffering. Those who find the answer have reached a state of Nirvana.
This then leads us to the core of Buddhist meditation which is the practice of the eight fold path. These virtues namely are the right action, right concentration, right effort, right livelihood, right mindfulness, right speech, right thought, and right view.
The proceedings of Buddhist Meditation are based on two things. The first is called ?Samatha? which means tranquility and the second is called ?Vipassana? which means mindfulness.
Let’s talk about this a little further. ?Samatha? meditation involves a lot of breathing which is designed to develop concentration, detachment, equanimity and happiness. There are 40 samatha meditations and each teaches the mind to focus on a single object to produce various states of tranquility.
Vipassana meditation on the other hand develops self understanding by being able to comprehend the things that are going inside one’s head. By practicing this regularly, you will soon develop wisdom which makes you free from all suffering.
It seems like new information is discovered about something every day. And the topic of Meditation is no exception. Keep reading to get more fresh news about Meditation.
But do you have to be a follower of Buddhism in order to practice this kind of meditation? The answer is no even if this technique is based on the doctrines of this religion and revolves around concentration and mind control.
For those who would like to get into Buddhist meditation, the first thing you have to do is find a quiet place where you can do this without being disturbed. Next, get a nice soft pillow or cushion to sit on if the floor is not that comfortable for you.
Now, let your hands rest on your lap with the palms facing upward. It’s hard to stay in this position for 5 minutes or more so don’t be afraid to make a few slight adjustments. The important thing is that you are comfortable the way you are.
Then it is time to close your eyes and concentrate on your breathing. Anybody can do this but there are 4 proper ways of doing it. You can inhale and exhale long, inhale and exhale short, inhale short and exhale long or inhale long and exhale short.
It will take some time before you get the hang of things. Don’t forget to relax all your muscles so your mind and body is able to act as one.
Buddhist meditation is just one of the many techniques around that can help relieve you from stress, make you think better to have a better outlook in life and do all sorts of things that will improve your overall physical health.
If you appreciate what Buddhist Meditation can do, you can already invest in cushions, prayer beads, incense and a few other accessories. It is optional so don’t think that just because they are not around that your experience is not a fruitful one.
You can’t predict when knowing something extra about Meditation will come in handy. If you learned anything new about Meditation in this article, you should file the article where you can find it again.
About the Author
By Anders Eriksson, feel free to visit his Perpetual20 training site for great bonuses: Perpetual20
Reverse Osmosis as a Water Treatment Process
If you’re seriously interested in knowing about Reverse Osmosis, you need to think beyond the basics. This informative article takes a closer look at things you need to know about Reverse Osmosis.
The use of reverse osmosis as a water treatment process or technology started more than four decades ago. It emerged as an effective alternative technique for desalinating abundant seawater. You see, the world’s surface is up to two-thirds covered by ocean and seas. But why is it that many countries and cities are still lacking adequate supply of potable water? That was the concern when scientists and researchers started exploring many more ways of converting water from ocean and sea into a form that would be most useful to households, industries, and people.
Upon the wide recognition of the water treatment method’s decontaminating and purifying capabilities, systems for reverse osmosis started getting commercial production and distribution mostly for household water purification purposes. These systems have been installed in many homes since the start of 1970s. Reverse osmosis devices and facilities have instantly become a more viable option to the costlier and more energy-wasteful units of water distillation.
The process is depending mostly on the semi-permeable membranes through which pressurized liquid or water is forced into. The use of force is a necessary factor because logically, reverse osmosis is simply the exact opposite of natural osmosis. As a review for your general science lessons, osmosis is the tendency of water, the universal solvent, to migrate or transfer from a solution with weaker saline content into a solution with stronger saline concentration. This phenomenal process is considered as nature’s way of gradually equalizing or balancing saline composition of solutions, especially when there is a semi-permeable membrane that separates them.
The more authentic information about Reverse Osmosis you know, the more likely people are to consider you a Reverse Osmosis expert. Read on for even more Reverse Osmosis facts that you can share.
In reverse osmosis, there should be force applied so that water would move in the reverse direction: from the solution with stronger salinity into the solution with a weaker concentration of saline. There is again the presence of a semi-permeable membrane. Why not the movement of salt molecules? In particular, salt molecules are physically bigger compared to water molecules. Because of that, the membrane would block the passage of even the tiniest salt particles or molecules. The result: desalinated water on a side of the membrane and a more concentrated solution of saline on the other.
In the same process, reverse osmosis is touted to do the same involving water contaminants. Because of this, the process has been known as an effective and highly reliable water purification method for production of safer drinking water. Many businesses are now capitalizing on the use of reverse osmosis in producing safe and quality potable water for general use of people.
There are pros and cons to the use of reverse osmosis as well. For the advantage, of course, the process is used when there is a goal to produce safer water for consumption. The method is also used when separating water from other forms of contaminants or impurities like lead, iron, manganese, salt, and calcium. Even additive fluoride in tap water could be eliminated through reverse osmosis.
For the disadvantage, many water treatment businesses know for a fact that reverse osmosis facilities are naturally more expensive than other water purification techniques. There is also a known limitation. It would not work in filtering out volatile organic chemicals and chlorine. This is because such impurities are too small their molecules are even smaller than those of water. They could also pas through the stringent pores of semi-permeable membranes.
About the Author
By Anders Eriksson, feel free to visit his soon to be top ranked Perpetual20 training site: Perpetual 20
Reverse Osmosis in Industries
After hearing about reverse osmosis, the first thing that probably pops to your mind is a water filtering system that is commonly used in our homes. Although that is a fact, the truth is reverse osmosis is process which has a number of uses aside from providing safe drinking water. In fact reverse osmosis has played an important role in medicine and in various laboratories. And, of course, you cannot discount the fact that reverse osmosis in industries has been utilized extensively. The application to industries is one of the largest uses of reverse osmosis. The production of clean water is as vital to the manufacturing level as it is in the domestic home front.
One of the more large scales common uses of reverse osmosis is boiler feed water treatments. Through the process, the water is pretreated which allows water that has considerable amounts of solids or contaminants removed before they are passed through the boilers. The objective here is get purified steam and to prevent contaminants to clog various stages of the system. The use of reverse osmosis in boiler feeds is more common in power plants and petrochemical plants. Any impurities in the steam that turns the turbines can cause downtime in generating electricity. Power producers can loose a lot of money from low energy production efficiency and they can loose more money when their turbines get damaged.
Reverse osmosis has revolutionized the way these industries purify their water. Traditionally, power plants used hazardous chemicals like sulfuric acid and caustic soda to purify the water they used to generate steam. Shifting to reverse osmosis carry a number of benefits including totally avoiding those harmful chemicals and also the costs benefits since in the long run running a reverse osmosis system is becoming cheaper than purchasing those chemicals.
Think about what you’ve read so far. Does it reinforce what you already know about Reverse Osmosis? Or was there something completely new? What about the remaining paragraphs?
The beverage and bottled water industry is perhaps the second largest user of reverse osmosis systems. You can see just how many companies use it by looking at the various brands of purified, drinking flavored drinking water in your local supermarket. These companies use the reverse osmosis system combined with other filtering technologies to ensure quality and clean products. Beverage companies cannot afford to mess up in this aspect since any bad publicity due to the quality of their products will loose the credibility of their company resulting to millions of dollars in losses.
Pharmaceutical and semiconductor industries also require the use of pure, clean water for a varied of reasons. In semiconductor production lines for example, the use of ultra pure water as a final step of some cleaning processes is absolutely necessary. Any impurities can cause problems with the sensitive nature of a variety of the products such as semiconductor wafers and other electronic components. The same can be said with pharmaceutical applications. The importance of pure water in creating medicines simply cannot be undermined. Aside from the production side, industries often utilize clean water produced from reverse osmosis to clean, disinfect and maintain equipment and facilities.
And with the evolving nature of industries, it would not be surprising to see new and innovative ways reverse osmosis in industries is utilized. In fact, reverse osmosis has already found its way in small scale products and manufacturing including humidification, waste water treatment, reclaiming car wash water and other rinse waters, photography, kidney dialysis, animal feed, cosmetics, hatcheries, greenhouses, metal plating production and battery water use.
About the Author
By Anders Eriksson, feel free to visit his soon to be top ranked Perpetual20 training site: Perpetual 20
Is Reverse Osmosis Bad for Our Health?
Although reverse osmosis offers clean water the health concerns that hound the filtered water still remains an issue today. Those who sell reverse osmosis products would argue otherwise and insist that they have no health related concerns regarding the water that passed through the filtration process.
But recent studies have shown that reverse osmosis can be bad for our health or at the very least is not really guaranteed as manufacturers or users of the system have claimed. The main reason behind this conclusion is that reverse osmosis is able to filter the natural minerals that water contains. These minerals apparently are quite important to our body and contribute a lot to our health.
Reverse osmosis works by forcing a solvent by applying pressure from an area of high solute concentration through a semi-permeable membrane to an area of low solute concentration. By doing so, the membrane allows the water being pushed by the pressure to pass through and prevents larger particles such as salt, for example in seawater. The reverse osmosis system actually uses several numbers of stages which incorporates combinations of various kinds of filters.
The first layer of filter usually uses a sediment type which prevents rust and calcium carbonate to pass through. An activated carbon filter is then next. With this one organic chemicals and chlorine are trapped. The water then passes through a reverse osmosis filter made up of thin composite membrane. Then after that one would find another layer carbon filter which is there to ensure that any particles that was able to push their way through is prevented from going further.
You can now see clearly where the reverse osmosis process has ?overdone? the filtering. Unlike carbon filters, reverse osmosis removes any molecules larger than water from passing through. Unfortunately, the naturally occurring minerals are larger than water molecules which therefore are trapped by the reverse osmosis membrane.
So far, we’ve uncovered some interesting facts about Reverse Osmosis. You may decide that the following information is even more interesting.
And what’s more unfortunate is the fact that harmful substances like those found in fertilizer and pesticide runoffs are smaller than water molecules and so are just able to pass through the membrane quite easily. These contaminants are known to cause cancer and other degenerative diseases and should be the ones being filtered out. Some studies have found out that reverse osmosis is unable to filter more than 2,000 toxins found in tap water.
Aside from the health issue, wastage is also a problem with reverse osmosis. The process actually wastes a lot of water. For a gallon of purified water, around two or three gallons are being wasted and cannot be recycled.
Nonetheless, if drinking water produced from reverse osmosis is not as healthy as one might thing, other uses of reverse osmosis has proven to be quite effective. People undergoing kidney dialysis uses water from reverse osmosis to remove waste products in the body. The pharmaceutical industry also uses reverse osmosis in the various process of drug manufacturing.
However, despite the advantages reverse osmosis might have it is apparent that other kinds of water treatment offer better alternatives in producing clean, drinking water. Indeed, reverse osmosis can be bad for our health and it would be better to settle with newer and more advanced ways of water purification.
These newer systems leave minerals intact and instead remove all the organic and synthetic pollutants like those in pesticides, fertilizers and household cleansers.
Now you can be a confident expert on Reverse Osmosis. OK, maybe not an expert. But you should have something to bring to the table next time you join a discussion on Reverse Osmosis.
About the Author
By Anders Eriksson, feel free to visit his Perpetual20 training site for great bonuses: Perpetual20